Aircraft
Navy Rethinks Sense-and-Avoid Radar on MQ-4C
The U.S. Navy is rethinking the selection of an Exelis airborne sense-and-avoid radar for the MQ-4C Triton. (Photo: Northrop Grumman)
The U.S. Navy is rethinking the selection of an Exelis airborne sense-and-avoid radar for the MQ-4C Triton. (Photo: Northrop Grumman)

The U.S. Navy is rethinking prime contractor Northrop Grumman’s selection of an Exelis-built collision avoidance radar for the unmanned MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance aircraft. The plan was to fit the Global Hawk derivative with the first Department of Defense (DOD) program of record “sense-and-avoid” radar, to comply with international airspace requirements and prevent midair collisions. However, “we’ve made a decision to pause on the development of that capability,” Capt. James Hoke, the Navy’s Triton program manager, said at the Unmanned Systems 2013 conference in Washington, D.C. this week.